Drew Allar could complete QB cycle Aaron Rodgers started 21 years ago

Drew Allar’s brilliant preseason debut gave Pittsburgh Steelers fans permission to dream about the future. It also revealed how perfectly his arrival connects three generations of quarterback development.

Twenty-one years ago, Aaron Rodgers entered the NFL as a highly regarded prospect who would not be asked to start immediately. He spent three seasons behind Brett Favre before inheriting the Green Bay Packers offense.

Rodgers eventually found himself on the other side of the arrangement. Jordan Love spent three seasons behind him before becoming Green Bay’s starter.

Now Rodgers has arrived at the final stop of his career with another talented quarterback watching from behind him.

Drew Allar has entered a familiar quarterback classroom

Allar completed 10 of 13 passes for 153 yards, two touchdowns and a rushing score during Pittsburgh’s preseason victory over Green Bay. His three possessions produced three touchdowns.

That performance generated predictable excitement. Allar jerseys sold out at the Steelers Pro Shop, and some fans began wondering how quickly he could climb the depth chart. One preseason game apparently remains enough time to identify a franchise quarterback, provided nobody asks which defenders were playing.

However, Allar’s performance becomes more interesting when viewed as the beginning of an apprenticeship instead of an audition for Rodgers’ job.

Rodgers knows exactly what Allar is experiencing. He remembers practicing behind a franchise icon while fans wondered when his opportunity would arrive. He also watched Love endure the same questions and speculation two decades later.

Few veteran quarterbacks can explain the value and frustration of waiting from both perspectives. Rodgers has lived it as the prospect being developed and the established starter with a possible successor standing nearby.

Mike McCarthy connects the beginning and end of the cycle

Mike McCarthy adds another layer to Pittsburgh’s unusual setup.

McCarthy arrived in Green Bay before Rodgers’ second NFL season and helped develop him while Favre remained the starter. He later built an offense around Rodgers that produced a Super Bowl championship and multiple MVP seasons.

Two decades later, McCarthy is starting over with Allar.

The Steelers made Allar the only quarterback at rookie minicamp because McCarthy wanted to spend the weekend correcting his fundamentals. Pittsburgh’s work with him has focused heavily on his footwork and mechanics, two areas that contributed to his uneven college career. 

Allar does not need Rodgers to teach him how to throw a football. He needs to see how an elite quarterback identifies pressure, adjusts protections, manipulates coverage and prepares during a regular-season week. Those lessons cannot be recreated by throwing against a simplified preseason defense.

Pittsburgh can revive a development plan the NFL abandoned

NFL teams rarely provide young quarterbacks with this kind of runway anymore. Rookie contracts have created pressure to play quarterbacks immediately, evaluate them quickly and move on if the results are not convenient.

Allar landed in one of the few situations where patience is already built into the roster.

Rodgers is the starter. Mason Rudolph provides experienced depth. McCarthy has publicly emphasized developing the entire quarterback room, while Allar has said his priority is learning as much as he can, as quickly as possible. 

There is no guarantee Allar follows Rodgers or Love and becomes a long-term starter. Sitting for a season is not magical quarterback fertilizer.

It does, however, give Pittsburgh time to discover what it actually has before forcing Allar to become something he is not ready to be.

Rodgers began his career by waiting behind Favre. Love continued the tradition behind Rodgers. If Allar eventually becomes Pittsburgh’s answer, Rodgers’ final NFL season could complete a quarterback cycle that began on draft night in 2005.